So I bought the Denpa Onna Blu-rays…

… and that got me wondering, how many of you my lovely figure loving readers do you actively buy anime?

After all, for a great deal figures they are based on anime shows, or other mediums such as manga or light novels that were adapted to anime.

In my case, I actually do not buy that many official anime releases, mostly because of all other things I do buy such as games and figures which together with my other financial obligations don’t leave a lot of money for anime. I end up buying a handful at best every year, when I do is the shows that I really, really enjoyed and would like to revisit. I like the idea of being able to rewatch them on my nice fancy TV which is considerably bigger and has a better picture than my monitor in gorgeous Blu-ray quality.

At least for American releases, I do not mind waiting a bit after the show has come out. After all I already watched them and the reason I want to buy them is because I liked them, I don’t think I could simply buy shows blindly. The prices that I can get through Amazon and Rightstuf are low enough that is not a bank breaking investment like in Japan and those two outlets tend to have discounts and sales throughout the year. I don’t mind paying a bit higher as with Denpa Onna where I can get nice extras such as both Blu-ray and DVD discs, nicely designed packaging and this book that has episode commentaries, staff interviews and character design drawings.

Plus, besides buying merchandise such as figures this is another nice way to support the industry, indirectly as it might be. Although I do worry how profitable this endeavour might be, I once read an article giving sales numbers which were much, much lower than I would have ever imagined for the American domestic anime market.

I wanna hear about you, do you buy anime? Is it domestic releases or do you go straight for Japanese releases? Do you watch a show because of figures you bought or vice versa, do you buy figures because you watched the show?

23 Comments

I buy animes from time to time, it would happen more often when more of my favorite shows would be licences or at least would have subtitles that I can read. Compared to Japanese DVD & Blu – Ray the western ones are always cheaper.

*Damn* I want the Nanoha Movies, but spending 10000 Yen + for each appears ridiculous.

“Do you watch a show because of figures you bought?”
Yes, this is the caase quite often, actually.
When purchasing figures I don’t really care about the origin in the first place. Well, sometimes I also buy figures after I watched the show, but Im so picky afterwards that only a few figures of beloved characters can satisfy me.

I was very much surprised when I discovered it by chance, glad I did though.

I almost bought the first Nanoha movie, at least for movies such as that one with the nice limited edition I could justify it because of my love for Nanoha and thinking of it as a nice collectible. The rest of the stuff? Pretty hard, I take off my hat to those people that put down the cash for it.

Hasn’t happened for me that often but when it did I’m glad. I wouldn’t have watched the nice Kara no Kyoukai movies if it wasn’t for GSC’s Shiki.

The only Blu-ray anime I’ve bought so far is the Madoka series. I haven’t really bothered with much else otherwise because of price and not really knowing what all’s available for the domestic market. I really ought to buy some more, though, at least for series I really liked that’s actually been made available. And at the same time, I don’t want to buy any more DVDs because why bother with the outdated format.

Also, I may be crazy, but I kind of prefer ‘normal’ versions of discs over collector’s editions. Though, again, I haven’t seen too much of what the CE’s look like now.

It goes both ways with figures and shows. Sometimes I get the figures first and then watch the show, like with the Fate series and Nanoha. Although it’s more getting figures for a show I’ve watched, now that I’ve actually been keeping up with anime more actively these past few years.

I watch anime almost exclusively from domestic retail DVD and Blu-ray. I actively try to avoid fansubs because I want to support the domestic anime industry and I know from experience that I’m less inclined to buy a show if I’ve already seen it. Unfortunately, that also means I tend to lag way behind the rest of the fanbase in terms of keeping up with current shows. :(

I don’t buy imports unless they have English subs and I’m very interested in the series; so far, that’s only been the Fate/Zero sets.

As for buying figures based on a show, it has happened, but rarely. I bought a Horo figure after watching the first season of Spice and Wolf, but that’s about it. Because of the lag between Japanese air dates and domestic retail disc releases, most figures tend to come out before I have a chance to watch a series, so I really don’t have the luxury of using one as the basis for the other. I tend to buy figures based more on visual appeal than anything, though, so it’s not much of an issue for me.

PS: I don’t have the Denpa Onna set from NIS yet, but that’s one I definitely planned on getting. ;)

For that I commend you. Meh, I never keep up with shows, I watch stuff at my own pace, if it falls with the currently airing shows that’s cool I guess.

I’m the other way around, I love to revisit shows I liked, so buying things I already watched seems more likely. I also find the prices a bit of a deterrent to go blindly. While not high per say it would be enough to bother if I spent money on a show I didn’t like.

I hardly buy anime at all, I only have one series and a few movies. Well, that applies to western movies and shows too actually. I actually prefer digital copies since with figures, we’re already stressed for space. But this article kind of reminded me to sign up with Crunchyroll, both to support the industry and because they’re becoming awfully convenient. Well, I suppose buying figures is supporting the industry too. And in a way that encourages studios to whore out their licenses so manufacturers can make more figures, win!
That’s cool that they included a hard-cover story guide in the Blu-ray pack, can’t get that in digital and that’d be really cool for a real fan of the show.

Anime is one of those things I wouldn’t mind as digital releases. Perhaps it is because I’m to use to them being that way. Although while there is streaming sites I have yet to see someone selling digital copies of anime in demand.

I like to believe my purchasing habits do that as well, so I tend to favor stuff I would like to see more of or something similar whether it is anime, figures or games.

Hmmm, I buy only DVDs and Blu-rays of Anime when they’re that good…. and I tend to go for Japanese releases. Denpa Onna will be one of them good ones, so I am planning to go buy this too. Erio is just so flippin’ cute!

Also, I don’t own figures first then watch the associated Anime, I do the reverse—Anime then buy figures if it’s good.

And that’s exactly why I bought this one, Erio in all her sparkly glory looks so nice on my TV.

I suspect that if I didn’t buy as much of the stuff I do some of that money would probably go to some domestic Japanese releases. For example I would kill for that CCS blu ray box set that came out a few years ago.

Hmm I have never bought a full anime series..mainly only OVAs and movies..since they are always cheaper than a full series. Other than figures and OVAs I tend to buy music albums so hopefully this goes back to the industry in someway..=3

I used to get quite a bit of anime, most of it during the US anime heyday/golden age(?) of the early 00’s. Most recently I picked up several DVD sets from Bandai, but that was less “supporting the industry” and more “getting the sets now before they get scalped on Amazon/eBay”.

If there’s an anime that I REALLY liked when watching it subbed I’ll fork out the cash for the DVD as soon as funds allow. I’m rather slow when it comes to picking up new technology/formats, so I stick with DVDs over blu-ray. Heck, my HD TV isn’t even a year old and I only got it after a bizarre series of circumstances.

Next anime I plan on getting the DVDs for? The Rose of Versailles. CANNOT! WAIT!

I remember those days, never did buy much since as a student having money for buying a DVD volume at a time. I should do that, while I can live without most of Bandai’s stuff there is some key stuff I would like like Gurren Lagann.

That’s pretty much how I buy stuff nowadays, not every show I watch do I want to buy. You should totally consider the switch up to Blu-rays, as long as it is financially viable of course. There is a noticeable increase in picture quality, much more easy to see with anime in my opinion than with other things such as movies.

I’ll probably consider getting blu-rays for movies or a high budget OVA/TV series. I did end up getting the blu-ray for Unlimited Blade Works (since, shockingly, it was cheaper than the DVD) and that looked pretty good. For low budget or standard animated shows, I’ll most likely stick with DVDs.

That’s one thing I always liked about Japanese anime releases is the nice stuff they come with. As a collector’s item I find them very appealing, as actual anime for viewing purposes though? Not so much.

Im one of them that buys Blu-rays :)
Great to see someone getting their hands on Denpa, I absolutely loved the series and plus shaft quality is definitely worth buying on Blu-ray!

Concerning Anime purchases from either domestic or original Japanese releases, I wrote a piece about it last year and was interesting to hear comrades thoughts about its value and its worth of spending x amount of money.

To me I prefer original, mostly because I want to directly contribute to the industry buy buying the official product from official sale outlets also like you mentioned you get the advantage of having those wonderful goodies. I feel more satisfied having the original with good quality casing along with merch compared to the cheap black crap casing of those licensed ones.

I do admit the price is steep but in the end of the day its my money and I do what i want to do with it. :)

That’s right, I remember thinking how crazy you were for getting all the Japanese Bakemonogatari Blu-rays. That’s another series I would like to own in Blu-ray, Shaft anime is totally worth it.

Indeed, releases like this Denpa Onna are the exception rather than the norm. I suppose it does show the difference in the Western and Japanese markets.

If more of the Japanese originals had nice translated subs like the BRS OVA or the first Nanoha movie I would be more inclined to purchase those versions. At the end of the day I do not buy so much anime that Japanese prices would be a problem.